viudez-v.-ca

G.R. No. 152889 ENRIQUE V. VIUDEZ II vs. THE COURT OF APPEALS and HON. BASILIO R. GABO, JR. in his capacity as Presiding Judge of Branch 11, Regional Trial Court, Malolos, Bulacan, Case: This is a petition for review on certiorari under Section 1, Rule 45 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure, with prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction of the Decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. SP No. 67115 dismissing the petition for certiorari filed by herein petitioner against Judge Basilio R. Gabo, Jr., in his capacity as Presiding Judge of Branch 11, Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Malolos, Bulacan. Facts: On June 26, 2000, a complaint for the alleged murder of Honorato Galvez and his driver was filed by the 303rd PNP CID) Team with the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor against the following: Cirilo de la Cruz, Guilberto Chico, Edmund Fernando, two persons named Ronald and Gerry, three (3) John Does, and Eulogio Villanueva. Likewise, on July 14, 2000, a complaint for murder against petitioner Enrique Viudez IIwas filed by Estrella Galvez, widow of Mayor Honorato Galvez, for the killing of the latter and his driver. Upon finding of probable cause to indict the petitioner and others for the crime of murder, the Investigating State Prosecutor filed 2 Informations for murder with the RTC of Malolos, which then issued warrants of arrest on the same day. The petitioner filed a Motion to Suspend Proceedings and to Suspend the Implementation of the Warrant of Arrest, pursuant to Section 96of Department (of Justice) Circular No. 70, The implementation of the warrant of arrest against petitioner should be suspended and/or recalled pending resolution of the said petition for review. The RTC denied petitioner’s Motion stating that, there was no way for it to recall the warrant of arrest in the absence of any compelling reason, and that jurisdiction over his person had not yet been acquired by it; hence, petitioner had no personality to file any pleading in court relative to the case until he was arrested or voluntarily surrendered himself to the court. Thus, petitioner filed a motion for reconsideration but was likewise denied. Thereafter, petitioner filed with the CA but the latter court dismissed the petitionfor certiorari for lack of merit and found no whimsicality or oppressiveness in theexercise of the respondent Judge's discretion in issuing the challenged Orders. Hence, the instant petition. ISSUE:

W/N a pending resolution of a petition for review filed with the Secretary of Justice concerning a finding of probable cause will suspend the proceedings in the trialcourt, including the implementation of a warrant of arrest. HELD: Petitioner's contention is wrong.The task of the presiding judge when the Information is filed with the court is firstand foremost to determine the existence or non-existence of probable cause for thearrest of the accused… The purpose of the mandate of the judge to first determine probable cause for the arrest of the accused is to insulate from the very start those falsely charged with crimes from the tribulations, expenses and anxiety of a public trial. The function of the judge to issue a warrant of arrest upon the determination of probable cause is exclusive; thus, the consequent implementation of a warrant of arrest cannot be deferred pending the resolution of a petition for review by the Secretary of Justice as to the finding of probable cause, a function that is executive in nature. To defer the implementation of the warrant of arrest would be an encroachment on the exclusive prerogative of the judge. Nowhere in the said provision does it state that the court must hold theproceedings in abeyance. Therfore, the discretion of the court whether or not to suspend the proceedings or the implementation of the warrant of arrest, upon the motion of the appellant or the trial prosecutor, remains unhindered. This is in consonance with the earlier ruling of this Court that once a complaint or information is filed in court, any disposition of the case as to its dismissal, or the conviction or acquittal of the accused, rests on the sound discretion of the said court, as it is the best and sole judge of what to do with the case before it.The factual antecedents in Ledesma, Solar Team Entertainment, Inc,., Dimatulac and Marcelo clearly show that a common issue among them is whether the arraignment of an accused may be deferred pending resolution by the Secretary of Justice of a petition for review on the finding of probable cause, to which this Court ruled in the affirmative. Nowhere in the said decisions did it state that the implementation or enforcement of the warrant of arrest was also deferred or suspended, as herein petitioner prays for. WHEREFORE, the petition for review on certiorari with prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction dated April 25, 2002is DENIED -- the petition for review, for lack of merit; and the issuance of TRO and/or preliminary injunction, for being moot and academic. *

*The Secretary of Justice had already sustained the petitioner’s petition for review, who directed the Chief State Prosecutor to move, with leave of court, for the withdrawal of the information for murder against the petitioner. (Sept. 19, 2002)